The present invention relates to a new and distinct Red Delicious variety of apple tree named ‘Stark Gugger’, which was discovered as a sport limb mutation on a ‘Starking Delicious’ plant in a cultivated field in Bressanone area, Bolzano province. The mutated branch was easily identified and noticed because of the anticipated and strong red-purple and solid-flush coloration of the fruits compared to the other fruits on the plant (FIG. 1).
The progeny was first asexually propagated in Spring 2005 and 10 trees were initially grown. The first observed fruiting of the propagated trees occurred in the 2006 season and confirmed the intensity of the fruit red-purple coloration and the stability of the mutation. Anticipation of 5-7 days in maturation time also has been observed compared to other Stark Delicious clones.
In the following years, many other trees were asexually propagated, planted and evaluated in other locations in Bolzano province and Verona province. All the trees of ‘Stark Gugger’ have been observed to remain true to type over successive asexually propagated generations and maintain the intensity of colour and the anticipation in fruit maturation.